Season Eight Rewritten
by TheyCalledMePunderful
Summary: (Requested by Shiranai Atsune) What if Lance really was too chicken to ask Allura out? What if instead, he fell for a handsome, half-Galra boy? OR, I'm a salty potato who rewrote the entire season to make Klance canon.
1. Episode 1

**Hello! It's your author here, telling you that this is indeed what the title says. I got a request to write this, and now I'm doing it. I know s8 came out a while ago, so this is a little late, but I hope you can read it and enjoy it anyway. Onward!**

~Lance~

I sit at the table, listening to Hunk talk about our new show. A whole show, based on us! I should be more excited, but instead I'm sitting here, gazing blankly at the table and absentmindedly stirring my cup of...what even is this? Coffee? Tea? Hot chocolate? I don't know, but it's gone cold now. I've been sitting here, "listening" to Hunk, for a good forty-five minutes.

"-and I think they're hinting at some romance between Keith and Allura-" Hunk says. I cut him off by standing abruptly and slamming my hands down on the table.

"Keith and Allura? No! It should be _Lance_ and Allura!" I shout.

"Ooh, a love triangle. I like where you're taking this," Hunk says.

I glare at him, feeling my previous anger at "Kallura" or whatever their stupid ship name is begin to simmer down. I sit back down gently. "No, no. It's not about that," I say sadly, looking into my cup.

"Oh, that's right. You said you were gonna ask Allura on a date. You asked her didn't you! Oh, and she said no. Oh. Oh, man. And here I am rubbing your face in it..."

I cut him off. "She didn't say no. I..." I look away from Hunk, choosing instead to look at my shoe. "Well, I never asked her,"

Hunk puts his hands on the table. "You chickened out?"

"I was _going_ to ask her, but she's been spending, like, every day in the med bay. Maybe...maybe this just isn't the right time." I look at my hands, the table. Anywhere but Hunk.

"No, Lance. What? It's the only time. After tomorrow, we're back at it in space fighting the Galra. There is not other time, literally. You're asking her today and that is final, young man," he states firmly. I raise my eyebrows in both curiosity and mild concern for what might happen if I _don't_ ask her.

"Well, what do you want me to do? Every time I try and get her attention she either turns me down or doesn't have time," I say, rolling my eyes. "There's no way we could somehow manage to get me to the point where I can successfully ask her out,"

"Well, you know, maybe if you asked her out like a normal person she'd say yes," Hunk chuckles.

"Wha- a _normal person_? I'm perfectly normal! What about my past attempts to ask her out make me weird?"

Hunk smiles hugely. " _Well_ , you don't know your way around a decent pick-up line, for one. For two, every time you flirt with her you end up doing finger guns and winking, plus your weird tongue click thingy. So yeah, no. _Perfectly normal_ ,"

I cross my arms and sit back in my seat, grumbling "My pick-up lines are _not_ bad,"

Hunk rolls his eyes. "They're _horrible_. Honestly, it should be illegal for you to even make the anymore,"

I stick out my tongue. "Just tell me the stupid plan already,"

Hunk smiles. "Okay, so-"

Of course, just as we're about to get to the part I actually care about, Iverson has to announce our stupid meeting.

Throughout Shiro's speech, I'm watching Allura. Not in a creepy, gross kind of way. I'm just...entranced by her beauty, is all. Yeah, that's it. Entranced. But also kind of sad, because we'll have so little time. Even if she says yes, we only have a few more hours left on Earth.

I'm pulled from my stupor by the sound of Keith's voice.

"I've finished my check-in with all the Garrison facilities around the globe. All defenses are up and running. Earth has everything in place to keep itself safe." He reports, not once breaking eye contact with Shiro.

"Great. And Atlas preparations?" Shiro turns to Veronica.

"Repairs to the IGF-Atlas were completed early last week and it has since passed every test protocol we've put it through," she responds. I don't think I've ever heard her sound more robotic.

Shiro nods. "Good. Any updates on the Altean pilot?" He addresses Allura next.

"Still unresponsive," Allura says, "but she could wake any day now. Perhaps if we had a little more time, we could figure out who sent her,"

Keith cuts in. "There's no way to know when or if she'll regain consciousness. We can't wait any longer. We need to get back out there and end this war before the Galra can reorganize," he says, looking at Shiro.

"Keith's right," Shiro agrees, "We'll be in constant communication with Earth. When the Altean wakes up, we'll know," he looks around the room as he finishes, catching my eye and sending an almost imperceptible nod in my direction.

"I have one more item to discuss. It's our last night on Earth, and we've got a lot of hard work ahead of us. We may not be back home for years. So I'm ordering you..."

The room is silent, like everyone in it is collectively holding their breaths in anticipation of what Shiro is about to say.

"To take some time for yourselves," Shiro says with a soft smile. "Be with the ones you love. You've earned it."

And with that, we're dismissed.

I walk out of the room, preparing myself for what I'm about to do. Hunk is waiting outside the door, mischievous smile on his face. It's a look that I usually see on Pidge, so seeing it on the relatively tame Hunk is a little unsettling.

"Ready, Loverboy?" He asks, elbowing me in the side. "C'mon, you've been putting this off for so long. Look at her, she's literally right ther. Go. Go, go _go_ ,"

I take a deep breath. "Uh-Allura!" I shout. Both she and Romelle turn towards me. Just looking at her is enough to drain all the confidence out of me.

"I-uh...Good luck with that pilot. I hope she wakes up before we leave," I mumble. Both girls smile and turn back.

I look at Hunk, scratching my neck. He looks very unamused. I open to my mouth to apologize, but he is having none of it. Before I know it, he's turned me around and shoved me forward with his foot, causing me to fall into Allura and Romelle.

"Lance? Are you okay?" Allura asks, offering me a hand up.

I smile sheepishly and stand, brushing her hand away. "Yeah, I'm fine. But, look. I have a question,"

"Ask away," Allura says sweetly.

"Uhhhhh...so I have this family dinner thing tonight, you know? And um. I was wondering if you would..."

 _Nope. No. Not happening. Nuh-uh. No way am I actually gonna ask her. She'll turn me down!_

"Lance?" Romelle asks, waving a hand in front of my face.

"...If you would help me ask...uh...Keith. To go. With me. To. My. Family. Dinner. Yep, that's what I wanted to ask you. So, can you? I know you're busy and all, but I really need your help,"

Allura laughs. "I can see that. I mean, this was the most awkward and flustered I've ever seen you and I'm not even the person you're asking out!"

She says that last part sort of loud, catching Hunk's attention. I mouth _I'll explain later_ over Allura's shoulder when I receive his questioning look.

"Oh! This is so exciting. Romelle, could you be a dear and watch our Altean pilot? I need to help Lance ask Keith out!"

Romelle tilts her head to the side. "Keith? Like, grumpy Keith? That Keith?"

I cover my face and nod, taking a minuscule step back. "Yep," I squeak, "that Keith,"

Allura grins and grabs my arm. "Well let's go! We don't have long!"

With that, she takes me to Hunk. "Hunk, do you have relationship advice? I know you and Shay are in a pretty good relationship, and I was wondering if you could give Lance some pointers since he's absolutely _dreadful_ at it,"

If questions marks could be represented as a sound, I'm sure that's the sound that would come from Hunk's mouth after hearing that. "Wh-whaddaya mean?" he asks.

Allura smiles and shimmies her shoulders. "Lance here needs some help. He's asking Keith out to go to dinner with his family this evening! Isn't that wonderful?"

Hunk's expression goes from confused to visibly trying to hold back a laugh in less than a second. " _Keith_?" He chokes out, face red.

I nod, my face equally red but for a different reason. "Yep. Keith,"

Hunk laughs "Well, we need to find him first. We can check with Shiro to see if he knows where he went. Then Allura and I will just have to put you out there and watch, to make sure you don't chicken out. Oh, we should videotape it! We can show their children when they get older,"

"I wasn't aware that two males could make a child on this planet," Allura says, looking slightly confused but happy nonetheless.

If possible, my face gets even redder. And so does Hunk's. Luckily, we leave that subject alone and walk down the hallway in the opposite direction that Romelle went, trying to find Shiro.

We finally spot his white hair in the crowd, and Hunk and Allura all but carry me over to him via my biceps.

When we arrive, he's talking to one of the people my sister knows. I think his name's Curtis or something. If I didn't know better, I'd say Shiro looked like he was blushing _just_ a little bit.

"Hey, Shiro," Hunk says. Shiro turns and stops short for a moment, taking the scene before him.

"Uhh...hey guys. Can I help you with anything?"

Next to me, Allura tightens her grip and smiles. "Yes, actually. Do you know where Keith went? Lance here needs to, ah, ask him something," she says with a not-so-subtle wink in my direction.

Shiro opens his mouth, closes it, and looks over his shoulder at Curtis, who shrugs. "I think he went outside to watch the sunset. May I ask what exactly this 'question' is?"

Allura giggles next to me and blurts out "Lance is going to ask him on a date!"

"Allura!" I hiss. "Not so loud! It's barely even a date," I aim the last part at Shiro.

Hunk laughs next to me. "Uh, no buddy. It's a date. You're taking him to the farewell dinner with your family. In a romantic sense,"

My mouth falls open. I can't help but feel offended because hey - I'm actually really nervous about this! I look at Shiro for help, but find only comfort in his gaze. He puts a hand on my shoulder.

"Well, I'm sure you'll find him. Just uh...be careful. Don't blow a gasket while you're talking to him,"

I groan and drop my head to my chest, prying my arms from the holds of Allura and Hunk so that I can cover my face with my hands. I can't believe this is happening! Of all the people I could have lied about wanting to ask out, why did it have to be _Keith_?

Allura and Hunk that Shiro for his 'help' before capturing my arms and leading me away again. They babble on and on about how lucky Keith will be to have a guy like me. Since his only family is Krolia, and he probably hasn't had a home cooked meal in forever, and _wow! you guys will be such a great couple_. Ugh.

When we get outside, I look up, squinting against the sun. Our lions are sitting facing the sunset, making the top of one of them the best vantage point for a sunset.

"This is so romantic!" Allura squeals. "I bet he's up on his lion. You should go up there and ask him. Oh! And then you have to have a little chat and then come back down so you can choose an outfit. Or I can help you choose one and Hunk can help Keith because I've only ever seen him in about four outfits, and three of the are different types of armor. Well, I guess two of them are armor. The Blade of Marmora and his Paladin armor. Then the uniform he's wearing now. And then his all black stuff and his weird jacket,"

Hunk laughs. "He can probably borrow some of Shiro's clothes since his shack got destroyed when Sendak invaded,"

Allura agrees with him, and then goes on the question the function of Keith's jacket. I stop listening, looking up at the very top of the Black Lion. Or, more specifically, the silhouette on top of it.

"I'm just gonna go for it," I say, "wish me luck!"

I wave to Hunk and Allura as I jog off towards the Black Lion, warming up for scaling the tallest lion we have.

"You-" I pant once I get to the top of the Lion, "are one _difficult_ guy to find when you wanna be,"

Keith jumps and turns around, relaxing once he sees it's just me. "You startled me, Lance," he says, "why are you even up here?"

I blush, remembering suddenly why I had to find him. "Aheh. Funny story, actually. I uh...I need to ask you something,"

Keith nods his head to the spot next to him, gesturing for me to sit down. I do so gratefully, plopping myself down and letting out a sigh. I watch the sunset, appreciating the beautiful red and yellow hues. At the top, closest to the tiny strip of indigo sky that will soon overtake the peaceful sunset and cast nightfall over the Garrison, is a pretty pink-salmon color. The clouds are all painted the same, like they're mirroring it.

"So, what was your question?" Keith asks, breaking his gaze from the sky and turning his head to look at me.

I freeze, the peaceful feeling that had been brought on by the sunset suddenly fleeing my body. "Well, you see. What happened was...uh...I mean...So basically...um...Okay so you're probably gonna laugh but uh...well...heh, actually...so um. yeah."

Keith cocks his head adorably. "That made no sense, Lance. Are you feeling okay? You look a bit red,"

 _I wonder why..._

"I was just wondering if...you...would go to my..uh. Will you- no. _Would you_ like to go to dinner with me? My family's having one to say goodbye, and I thought I should get the courage to ask you...on...a...date?"

My voice jumps like eighty-seven octaves while I'm saying this, and I can tell my face is getting redder by the second.

Keith looks surprised. He blinks once, then glances towards his arm, away from me. "A-a date, huh?" he asks. I shift so I can see his face better, and notice that he's blushing. Not just a little, like Shiro was earlier. He's blushing a _lot_ , and since he's paler than I am, it shows up more.

I nod. "Yep. A date," Even though my voice sounds pretty confident, there's still a little waver on the word 'date' that's pretty noticeable. Not to mention the fact the I currently look like a cherry tomato.

"With me?" Keith clarifies, peeking at me.

"With you,"

" _Tonight_?"

I laugh. "Yes, Keith, tonight. An official, romantic date with the both of us having dinner with my family on our last night on Earth. Do you want to do that?"

Keith's cheeks, not his whole face, turn a delightful shade of pink. "Y-yeah. I'd like that,"

I let out a teeny-tiny little _oh_ and turn my face toward the sunset. Keith does the same, putting an arm out and resting back on it. Without really thinking about it, I place my hand over his, lacing our fingers together. I can almost _feel_ him blush beside me, but I don't turn to look.

Mostly because I'm blushing too.

"What time did you say your dinner was again?" Keith asks. The sun is close to being completely down.

"Uh, like, seven-thirty. Why?"

Keith chuckles. "It's six -fifty right now,"

I jump up. " _Quiznak_ ," I hiss. "Look, I gotta go. Uh...seven-thirty. See you there!" I blush, shaking my head.

I scamper to the end of the lion's head, precariously sliding down to the first ledge I can see. I wave goodbye to Keith again before he disappears from view, blocked out by the metal of the Black Lion.

Once I'm finally back on the ground, Hunk and Allura are waiting for me.

"Well? How did it go?" Allura asks with a smile.

I blush and look at my shoes. "Well, um. He-he uh. He said yes,"

Allura claps. "Yay! So...what time is your dinner again?"

"Seven-thirty,"

"Oh my-Lance! We have half an hour! Come on, come _on_ ," Hunk says, taking my arm. "We need to get you home and get you _dressed_."

Allura smiles softly. "I'm going to go check on the Altean pilot, if you guys don't mind. Do tell me how your date goes, though, Lance. I'm proud of you," she says, turning and walking away after giving us a wave over her shoulder.

I sigh and let Hunk pull me in the direction of my family. They're waiting for me, since I told all of them that I would be bringing someone to dinner and they want to hear all the details.

"So..." Hunk starts, a teasing tone to his voice.

"Don't even start," I grumble.

"Oh, I'm gonna start. I thought you said you were asking Allura? What even happened?"

"Ugggh. I panicked, okay? And the first person I thought of was Keith, so I said I needed help asking him out on a date instead of what I originally wanted to say." I glare at the ground, kicking a rock as we walk.

Hunk stops suddenly, causing me to jerk back since he's practically dragging me. "Wait..." Hunk looks at me. "He said _yes_ , right?"

I nod slowly. "I literally told you that,"

"So that means he _wants_ to go with you, yeah?" I nod, not seeing where this is going.

"So he likes you?"

I gape at him, just now connecting the dots in my head. "I-yeah. I think that's what that means." I scratch the back of my neck, thinking back to his blushing face when I asked him. Back to how he'd clarified eighty-bazillion times.

Hunk tightens his grip on my arm. "You better not break his heart, Lance. There's a reason he never said anything, and it's probably because he didn't want to get hurt. so, _be careful_ ,"

"I will," I squeak out, getting flustered again. We start walking again, but my feet move in more of a shuffle.

Once we reach my family, I'm bombarded with questions. _Did they say yes? Who did you even ask? Are you okay? You look constipated. Oh, god. Did they say no? Do they have any food allergies?_

"Guys, guys. One at a time. Uh, yes, he said he would come. Yes, he said it in a romantic sense, that was clarified. Um...I'm fine, just excited and flustered. I'm not constipated, Veronica. You weirdo." I answer each of their questions, scratching my elbow.

" _Mijo_ , you haven't answered the two most important questions Does he have any food allergies? And just who is this guest you're bringing?" Mama asks.

I blush more, but it's nowhere near how much I was blushing earlier, when I was trying to talk to Shiro. "Well, uh. It's. I don't know if he has any allergies. And I...I'm bringing Keith," I stammer, looking at the ground.

After a few beats of silence, I look up. My entire family is smiling down at me. Suddenly, Veronica comes over and slings an arm over my shoulders. "Wow, little Lance. A date with your captain? Didn't think you had it in you. I thought you had a crush on Allura, though,"

I laugh nervously. "No, no. Nope, I have a crush on Keith. And apparently he...likes me back,"

"Well of course he does! Who wouldn't like my little boy, hmm? I'm so proud of you, _mijo_ ," Mama squeals, squishing my cheeks. "Does he need us to take him to our house with us? Or can he take himself?"

I shrug. "Shiro can probably take him if he needs to, and he has to get ready anyway. So, we should be fine,"

Mama nods, taking my hand. She thanks Hunk for taking me to them, and then we're off.

I finally get to go back home.

~Keith~

I can't believe that just happened.

Did _Lance McClain_ seriously just ask me out? I pinch myself to make sure this is real, hissing when it hurts. Yep, okay. This is real. I groan and flop backward. Okay, so it's real. Meaning that I also just _asked for clarification_ about fifty times.

"Can you lemme down?" I ask Black. "I need to see if Shiro has anything I can wear to Lance's,"

Black leans her head down, placing it on the ground so I can hop off onto the ground. I pat her nose and thank her before jogging off. I must've stayed there for ten minutes, giving me a half hour to find some clothes for my...

For my date.

I grin and blush just thinking about it as I enter the living quarters for most teachers, which is where Shiro lived with Adam and where he's living now. I count the rooms as I go past, until I get to his room. I knock three times, already feeling nervous.

The door slides open, revealing Shiro. He smirks when he sees me. "I'm assuming Lance asked you?"

I blush. "Ho-how did you know about that?"

Shiro steps aside, letting me in. I walk in and the door whooshes shut behind me. "Hunk told me. He was just in here, laughing about how _red_ Lance's face was,"

I chuckle, "Yeah, Lance was blushing a lot when he found me. I thought he was going to explode,"

Shiro ushers me over to the bedroom, taking me to the closet, which is full of sweaters and collared shirts and slacks and nice shoes. I look up at him. "Were these Adam's?"

He nods sadly. "Yeah. None of them fit me, and you were like his son. Or his little brother, or something. I think...he'd want you to have them. You meant a lot to him, whether or not you realized it,"

I turn back to the closet. "I'm sorry he died," I murmur. Shiro looks at me, I can see it from the corner of my eye.

"I...me too. He's always going to have a special place in my heart," he says with a sad smile at the floor.

"Which tie?"

"What?" Shiro looks up, bewildered.

"Which tie did he wear when you guys had your first kiss. You should keep it to remember him." I gesture to all the ties.

"Oh, um..." Shiro pulls one down, looking at it closely. "This one. I remember laughing at him because it has hearts on the back,"

"Take it," I say, pushing his hands to is chest, and with them, the tie.

"Thanks," Shiro says with a teary smile. "Now, first date outfit. Knowing Lance, he's not going to wear a full out suit for a family dinner. I say we go with nice pants, a dress shirt, a sweater, and some casual but nice shoes?"

I shrug. "Sure,"

The next twenty minutes are filled with me trying things on and Shiro either nodding or shaking his head, judging my outfit choice. Finally we decide on a pair of black pants, some of Adam's old shoes (black as well), and a red shirt.

"Now all you need is a sweater," Shiro says. He pulls out a box that looks to be overflowing with sweaters of all different colors and patterns.

"Try this one," he says, throwing one to me. It hits me in the chest, and I see that it's a charcoal grey sweater and goes to my wrists. I flip the cuffs of my sleeves over the ends, and turn arounf to get Shiro's approval.

"Definitely," he says, giving me a thumbs-up. "Make sure to get a picture with Lance. I want to see my little bro on his first date,"

"I'm not your brother,"

Shiro shrugs. "Eh. You basically are. Anyway, Lance's dinner starts at seven-thirty. And it's seven twenty-two. I'll drive you to his place, c'mon,"

After a very embarrassing car ride in one of the Garrison's few cars (Iverson had a single truck and a single car on the premises for some reason), we arrive in front of Lance's house. I give Shiro a nervous glance before climbing out and knocking on the door.

The door opens almost immediately, revealing Lance's mother.

"Come in, come in, my dear!" She says, stepping aside. "Oh, you look so handsome. Doesn't he look wonderful, Lance?"

Lance, who was walking down the stairs and watching his feet, looks up. His eyes widen, and his mouth falls open a little.

"Wow! You...you look _amazing_ ," He says, pink tinting his cheeks.

"Thanks. You look...really good too," I say, smiling a little.

"Um. Oh! Keith, this is my mom and Pop-pop. You already know Veronica-" she waves "-That's Rachel, my brother Marco, my other brother Luis, his wife Lisa, and their kids, Silvio and Nadia," Lance introduces me to each of them, pointing to them as he says their name. I wave and give what I hope is a little smile.

"We should eat," Luis declares. "C'mon, little monsters," he picks up Nadia, who squeals, and the family starts so migrate to the dining room.

Now, this is a big family. Especially since I've never been around a lot of people at once, so this is a new thing for me. They have one large table, made to seat eight people, in the center of the room. It's laden with all types of delicious smelling food. Next to it, there's a smaller table for the kids. There are nice, ceramic plates sitting on the large table. At the kids table, they all have plastic-ware and plastic plates.

Lance sits at the big table, in the middle. Veronica takes his left side, leaving me to sit between him and his mother. Everyone else fills in - Luis and his wife sitting next to Marco and Lance's father. Rachel growls as she sits at the kiddie table, glaring playfully at Lance.

The family passes the food around, but I don't know what any of it is. I look at Lance's plate helplessly, and he chuckles softly, serving my plate for me. "You aren't allergic to anything, right?" He asks.

"I'm lactose intolerant, but I'll be fine if I eat some cheese or something. I took a pill thingy before I got here,"

Lance nods, but I notice he still decreases how much cheese I'm getting. "I don't want you to get a stomachache,"

Veronica gasps next to him, drawing the attentions of the entire table. "Did Lance just use the word _stomach_?" She half-shouts.

Lance covers his face and groans. "Veronica pl-"

"He hasn't ever used that word! It was always 'tummy this' and 'tummy that.' What _happened_ in space? He's all grown up now!"

Luis laughs. "Remember when he had the flu and kept whining about his tummy hurting? Lance, you may have gotten into the Garrison, but you certainly didn't get the brains of the family,"

"Hey!"

"No, he's right. Remember when he thought that cow manure was mud, so he played with it and made a mud pie out of it? Then he ate it and threw up because it's _poop_ ," Rachel says from the table behind us.

"Or the time when we were kids and Veronica mixed dirt with water and told Lance it was chocolate milk," Marco adds.

Laughter all round the table. Lance sits next to me, arms crossed. Of course, I laugh too. Because - hey, this guy ate poop!

"Oh, yeah! I still can't believe he fell for it," Veronica chortles.

That piques my interest. "What did he do?" I ask.

"He told on me, of course. Then Pop-pop gave him ice cream and I got none," She replies.

"Yeah, Lance was always the baby of the family. It only took you coming to dinner to graduate him to the adult table," Marco, smiling, says. I turn and see Rachel squinting at Lance resentfully.

"Speaking of dates-"

"No." Lance states firmly, cutting Veronica off.

"But-"

"But nothing. I'm not helping you land a date with Hunk, or Pidge, or Shiro, or anyone else. You're spilling my secrets." Lance pouts at her. Frankly, it's adorable.

The siblings continue bickering, and Lance's mother touches my arm softly. Nodding toward Lance, she says "Lance never brings anyone home. You must really mean something to him," she says.

I take a bite of food to hide my blush and the smile that phrase paints on my face. "That's weird. I always thought he was really popular with the ladies...and I guess everyone else,"

"Oh, he gets that from his father. It's all talk. But if you can get past that, you'll find a good boy with a big heart,"

Veronica stands, drawing everyone's attention once again. "A toast...to family. Though we may be apart after tomorrow, we'll always remain close at heart. Family is forever,"

"To family!" The whole room says in unison.

Immediately after saying that, my face falls. I don't have a family, beside my mom. And even then, that's not exactly the 'family' they're talking about here. I only met my mom a few years ago. Seems like more for me than it really is, but either way, she doesn't have these stories for me. We don't _have_ the memories that the McClain family has. I doubt that Krolia even remembers if I ever made a mess in the tub, or if I ate dangerous things out of curiosity. Who can blame her? She left because she had to protect me and my father. She left out of love. I only wish we'd gotten to know each other a bit better.

Lance puts a hand on mine. "You okay?" He asks. I can see what his mother was talking about when she said that he has a big heart. I can see in his eyes that he genuinely cares.

I nod, averting my eyes. "It's just...I dunno. Aren't you going to miss them?"

Lance smiles at me. "Of course I am. But I tell myself that that's what I'm fighting for. I want to be able to see them all again,"

"Oh," I say quietly. Lance goes back to eating, scarfing down food at lightning speed. I notice he doesn't let go of my hand as he does so.

I blush and smile, picking up my fork and taking a bite of some more food. It's really good, I can see why Lance is inhaling it by the plate.

"You really like him, don't you?" Marco asks me. I glance at Lance, and see that he's deep in conversation with Veronica.

"Yeah," I say, biting the inside of my cheek. "I have for a long time,"

Marco chuckles. "I don't know why it took so long for him to ask you out. He's normally much more...up front about his crushes,"

I roll my eyes. "Yeah, I know. If I had a penny for each time he flirted with some alien I'd have enough money to hire somebody to replace me and go into space and fight for me," I laugh.

Lance lets go of my hand so he can make large gestures with his arms while he tells his story. I immediately miss the warmth of his palm on mine. I rest my head on my hand, leaning on my elbow and just...watch Lance tell his story. It's like, he's not just telling them what happened, he's painting a picture and making the whole room watch his performance.

"Lance," Luis says, "why don't you start bringing out dessert? I'll show you where it is." He grabs some of the dishes off the table, and his and his wife's plates. Lance takes mine and his, smiling at me as he leaves.

They walk out a few seconds later, taking the food and clearing off the table. Then, they enter with a large cake that says _Farewell Lance and Veronica!_ and, at the bottom corner, I see someone has squeezed on the words _\+ Keith_ in red icing.

"Since we don't know how long it's going to be before we see you again, here. A cake for you. Keith, sorry about how squished your name is. We didn't know the name of who he was bringing until thirty minutes before we wanted to start. You can have that piece, if you want," Lance's mother says with a smile. She begins cutting the cake into squares, giving each person a piece.

Lance gets a piece that has a large blue L on it, L for Lance. As promised, I get the piece with my name on it. Lance looks at me, deep in thought, before leaning over and whispering to me.

"After this, can I show you something?"

I nod, blushing at our proximity. I take a bite of the cake, smiling once I taste it. It's the best cake I've ever had! I quickly finish my piece, but somehow Lance has already finished four whole pieces in the time it took me to finish that one.

Lance stands and takes my hand, kissing his mother on the cheek and telling her we'll be back soon. He leads me through the living room, out the back door, and takes me down a small trail. He keeps our hands connected, looking around sadly.

"It's all ruined," he says.

"This place used to be so beautiful. The big tree up ahead was where I broke my arm falling out of it. I used to run through these fields with my siblings all the time and-" he stops, something catching his eyes. He pulls me along with him, excitement rekindling in his eyes.

"This...this is where I first discovered I wanted to see the stars," Lance says, coming to a gradual stop in front of a pond. It's the most aesthetically appealing pond I've ever seen, with lily pads and a deep, beautiful black-blue color. Lance walks me over to a small dock on the side of it. "We used to take a little boat onto the water. We'd play pirates and all sorts of stuff. I remember one night Marco took me out here and sat me down on the dock and we just...watched that stars,"

Lance sits on the edge of the dock, scooting back so he's lying down. I sit next to him, lying on my side so I can talk to him. "So..."

Lance smiles at the sky. "So,"

I laugh, feeling a pleasant fluttering in my stomach. "Your family is great. They're hilarious,"

"They're _embarrassing_ is what they are. I'm not a baby!"

"Whatever you say, Mr. I-Eat-Cow-Poop," I snort.

I can practically _hear_ the scowl on Lance's face. "I didn't know! I asked Marco! He said it was mud, too!"

"Oh, Lance," I sigh. It comes out a lot more lovey-dovey that I mean for it to.

Lance flips onto his side, meeting my gaze. "Oh, Keith," he mocks, smiling.

"I'm so glad I asked you and not Allura," Lance sighs.

"Wh-what?"

I knew it. I _knew_ it was too good to be true. Lance only asked me because he wanted to get closer to Allura, however that's working out for him.

"God, that came out wrong. What I mean is, I was originally gonna ask Allura, but I just sort of blurted out that I needed help asking you out. So she and Hunk tried getting my psyched up and confident and I just...wasn't. And I did ask you, obviously. And even when I could have easily told you it would be as friends, I made sure you knew it was romantically. But the thing is, I don't want this to have happened with anyone else but you. I...I dunno. I thought I was wrong, but I'm not. See, Keith, I actually really like you. Like, _like_ like you, and it scared me at first. But now, I'm not afraid to tell you this: I think I'm falling for you."

I take a moment to register what he just said. "So...this was a mistake? But now it's not? I'm confused, do you have a crush on me or not?"

"Oh, I definitely do," Lance says. He sits up, and I follow, wondering if we're about to go back to the house.

"I wouldn't trade this for anything. This talk, the dinner, even our dumb fights. Keith, I'm _falling_ for you," he says, coming a little closer.

"Well, I beat you there," I say. At his confused look, I elaborate. "I've already fallen for you a million times,"

Our faces are centimeters away. Lance glances down to my lips, then back up to my eyes. God, he has such pretty blue eyes. Like the sun filtering through a pond. I just want to get lost in them forever. I search his face for any hint of a joke, for a sign that he doesn't want to do this. I take his hand, the one he isn't propping himself up on, and lean so we have only a hairs width between our lips. I look into his eyes for permission. Even though I get it, I stay still.

But Lance doesn't. He slowly closes the gap between us, closing his eyes. I relish in the feeling of his lips on mine before responding.

It's a sweet kiss, soft and slow and gentle and perfect. It's how my first kiss with someone should be. Lance pulls away after a moment, cupping my cheek in his hand. I open my eyes slowly, but I ca't really do much other than nuzzle into his hand.

"We need to be getting back to the house," Lance says gently, sounding disappointed, "Veronica has to drive us back to the Garrison,"

I nod, but neither of us make any movement to get up or move at all. "Can she take a picture of us before we go?" I ask, biting my lip once I realize how stupid it sounds.

Lance chuckles. "Yeah, but we have to get up first." He stands with a grunt, putting out his hands to help me up. "C'mon, we should go,"

I take his hands and he pulls me up, only letting go of one as we walk back up the trail to his house. His other hand is in his pocket, and he's whistling a soft tune. Right now, in the pale moonlight in front of his house, Lance is the prettiest I've ever seen him. He's just so...perfect.

"Where did you guys even go?" Luis asks when we get back inside. "I thought you were just going to take a walk in the meadow, except-oh. You took him to the pond, didn't you?"

Lance blushes and nods, looking at me shyly. "We just talked for a little bit, you know? Last night on Earth and all that. Got some stuff off our chests,"

I nod in agreement. "Yeah,"

"Well I'm glad my little bro is with such a cool guy," Marco says, "I hope that you guys stay safe on your journey,"

Lance sniffles next to me, letting go of my hand so he can hug his brother. "I'm gonna miss you," he whisper-cries into Marco's ear.

"Keith, promise to look after him? He's my favorite uncle," Nadia says, pulling on my sleeve. I kneel down so we're seeing eye to eye.

"I promise," I say with a small smile.

Nadia shakes her head a sticks up a tiny pinkie. "You gotta pinkie swear so I know you're telling the truth," she says.

I wrap my pinkie around hers, smiling as she vigorously shakes it. The small girl nods seriously before walking away.

"Keith," Lance says, "do you want to get that picture now?"

"Sure," I reply, standing up. Lance's mother takes our photo, both of us smiling with our arms around each other.

"Good luck in space," she says as she gives us the Polaroid. I thank her politely, but Lance throws himself into her arms and cries.

"I don't wanna leave you, Mama!" He sobs into her shoulder. She hugs him, whispering something into his ear. He nods, sniffling, and kisses her on the cheek. "I love you,"

"I love you too, Lance,"

He walks back to me, slouching more than he was before. I take his chin and, without really thinking, press my lips to his. Lance's family lets out whoops and cheers.

"Get some Keith!" I hear Veronica shout.

I pull away with a smile, gazing into his eyes. He smiles at me, running a hand through my hair.

"I hate to break this up, but we have to go. Lance, c'mon," Veronica pulls him away, sending a wink in my direction.

Lance takes my wrist as we get dragged away, and I wave goodbye to his family. Loud whistles and shouts follow us, some addressing the kiss, some addressing our mission. I blush when I feel Lance's arm around my shoulders, leaning into his touch.

Tonight was a good night.

Once we've arrived back at the Garrison, we're greeted with Allura's solemn face.

"The Altean pilot has died," she says, carefully keeping all emotion out of her voice.

"Allura," Lance says softly, putting a hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

"I'm sorry to hear that," I tell her, "did she say anything before she passed?"

Allura nods. "I'll tell you once inside. I think we may have just found the last person we need to fight,"

Relief washes over me. Even though I love being on Voltron, I miss just messing around and being reckless without having to worry about the state of the universe. Allura leads us to a room that contains the Paladins, Shiro, and the rest of the crew that's going to be aboard the Atlas.

"Sit," Allura instructs gently, turning to address the room as a whole. "As many of you know, we discovered an Altean pilot being used as an energy source a few months ago. However, what some of you may not know is that she perished a few hours ago. After a very long wait, we were able to get some vital information out of her seconds before she died. As it turns out, she was working for Honerva.

"Now, if you don't know who Honerva is, she used to be Zarkon's wife. After they were hit with quintessence, which turned both of them into the evil maniacs we had to fight, she forgot about her marriage, and even had a child without knowing who the father was. I'm going to do my best to locate her using her quintessence signature, but I fear that she's done something horrible. Lotor and Zarkon have perished, and now it's time we reunited this family." Allura takes a breath.

"We will return triumphant," Allura says, "keeping the universe safe from Honerva forever, and finally being able to rest. Who's with me?"

There's not a single person who isn't.

 **I am. So. Sorry. I didn't know that when I posted this chapter, the entire thing ended up being written in code. Thank you everyone who pointed it out, and I'm sorry about that. When I copy and pasted it, it didn't show up like that. I hope you enjoyed this, and I will make sure to be more careful in the future! Bye!**


	2. Episode 2

~Pidge~

We leave today.

The sun isn't even out when the crew starts loading onto the Atlas. Shiro has the Paladins put on our armor and get into our Lions, keeping a comm line open to the Atlas.

After what seems like forever, but also never enough time to properly say goodbye to our families. Especially for poor Lance. He looks like he's about to cry when Nadia gives him a necklace with purple and pink plastic beads on it. He hugs his family until he absolutely _has_ to leave. Even then, it takes Keith and Shiro having to all but pull him off his mom. Keith walks him to the Lions, and I can practically see his tears running down his cheeks.

I watch him climb into his Lion after saying something to Keith. And then...kissing his cheek? What? I'm so confused. Are they together now?

 _"Awwww,"_ Hunk's voice crackles through the comms.

"What happened?" I ask.

 _"Lance kissed Keith on the cheek. I'm so glad I helped them get together,"_ Hunk responds. I can hear the smile in his voice.

 _"Pfft,"_ Lance's voice breaks through. _"Helped? I think not. What you did was make me embarrassed."_

" _What_?" I ask again, emphasizing it this time.

 _"Oh, right. Well Lance here failed at asking Allura, don't worry everyone knows, and accidentally said he wanted to ask Keith. Well, then he asked Keith and Keith said yes and they went to dinner together. And now they're a gross cute little couple,"_ Hunk explains helpfully.

"Does _Allura_ know he meant to ask her?" I ask flatly.

 _"Oh. Quiznak."_

 _"He wanted to WHAT?"_ Allura half screams.

 _"Oops."_ Hunk goes silent after that, but I know he's biting both lips into his mouth and making a weird half-smile. That's just what he does when he messes up.

 _"It's true,"_ Lance says sheepishly, _"that was my original plan. But I slipped up and said I wanted to ask Keith. I'm glad I did, too. I-he-yeah..."_ Lance trails off. I can tell he's blushing by the tone of his voice.

 _"I'm glad too,"_ Allura responds. She sounds like she's truly happy for them, if not a little hurt by the fact that Lance chose Keith.

 _"Guys, come in,"_ Keith's voice is finally heard. I wonder if he's been listening this entire time. _"I need to make sure everyone's here before we can go onto the Atlas and launch, okay?"_

"Okay," comes the chorus of replies.

 _"Lance?"_

 _"Here,"_

 _"Hunk?"_

 _"I'm here,"_

 _"Pidge?"_

"Here,"

 _"Allura?"_

 _"Present,"_

 _"Keith? Here,"_ He adds playfully. _"Let's go,"_

We fly our Lions into the hangar for the Atlas, landing them slowly, one by one, rather than as a group as we usually. This is because we go in lion by lion, since the opening isn't the biggest. If they'd opened it all the way, all five of us could go in as one, but they didn't since it's not necessary.

Keith goes in first, then Lance, then me, then Hunk, then Allura. When I climb out of Green, Lance and Keith are already out and chatting. I take my chance.

Sidling up to them, I say "Soooo...a date, huh?"

Keith blushes cherry red, looking to Lance and then to his shoes with a small smile. "Heh. Uh, yeah,"

Lance looks at Keith fondly, a smile ghosting his lips. "We are indeed,"

I smirk. "Did you guys fu-"

"HEY there Lance, Keith, Pidge. Let's _not_ finish that sentence, huh? I'm gonna go check out the kitchen, anyone wanna come with me?" Hunk bursts into our conversation. He puts and arm over Keith's and Lance's shoulders, putting his head between theirs.

"Nah, I'm gonna go check out the training deck. Shiro said they have a knife throwing target!" Keith says excitedly. Lance looks at him, like _this boy is so adorable_. (His words, not mine.)

"I want to check out the Altean tech with Allura. I can meet you in there later if you want!" I say, grabbing Allura by the wrist. She smiles.

"Oh, Pidge, you are going to _love_ this."

~Lance~

"I'll go with you buddy!" I say excitedly. I wave goodbye to Keith and allow Hunk to lead me out of the room. Keith. My... _boyfriend_. It makes me giddy to even think it, and an involuntary smile makes its way onto my face.

"Thinkin' about Keith?" Hunk asks knowingly. I nod and look away, hiding the enormous smile in my hand.

Before long, we've arrived at the kitchen. Inside I see several large freezers and refrigerators, and a lot of ovens. Only one stove, though. Hunk pats the counter-space and starts taking out ingredients. I've been in situations like this with him before, where he's cooking and I'm here to talk, and sit on the counter. My feet don't quite touch the ground if I don't point my toes, so I let them kick around.

"So..." I start, not sure exactly what Hunk wants to talk about.

"So. We need to talk about the slip-up of the century: you. More specifically, the fact that you asked out Keith when the goal was _Allura_." Hunk measures out some...stuff. I don't really remember my way around a kitchen after all that time away from Earth. Even if it was only a little bit, a lot happened.

"What about it?" My voice cracks. I clear my throat.

"Well...do you actually like him? You said you were falling in love with Allura. Do you just feel roped into your relationship?" Hunk asks, concern lacing his voice. He furrows his brow as he mixes eggs and some spices in a bowl.

I open my mouth, but close it as I think about what he's asking. "I...I did. I was in love with Allura, I think. But something felt...off when she started showing interest in me. It felt like she was just skipping the grieving period of her relationship with Lotor, you know? So that put me a bit on edge. And then, I mean, _dude_ have you seen Keith lately? He is..." I whistle. "Yeah, but no. I don't think I'm just with Keith because I feel obligated to do so. I'm with him because I...well, I like him. I think I-I think I love him? Maybe. I'm not sure. All I know is, I don't regret anything about last night."

Hunk looks over his shoulder at me and wiggles his eyebrows suggestively. I hit him in the shoulder.

"Not like that, you perv!" I laugh.

"Uh-then _how_?"

I blush. "Well...we kissed. Twice. One time on the docks and one time in front of my family. I don't think I've ever blushed so much in my life,"

Hunk's stirring has come to a stop. "You _what_? You kissed him? And you didn't tell me?"

"I told you just now didn't I?" I argue, crossing my arms.

"Well...that doesn't count. You said you just took him down to the docks!" Hunk says, throwing one hand up in exasperation. Egg mixture goes flying onto a wall.

"Well, you didn't ask. Plus, I wanted to wait to tell you. I wanted to see your reaction." I smile sweetly.

Hunk looks unamused. "Was my reaction sufficient?" He asks flatly.

I giggle. "Yes. Very,"

Hunk's expression softens. "You really like him, don't you?" THen, a mischevious smirk. "OH! Lancey's in _love~_ " He shouts. I scramble over to him.

" _Quiet_ ," I hiss, " _Veronica_ might _hear_ you and I will _never_ hear the _end_ of it." I look over my shoulder dramatically.

The kitchen doors slide open. "You guys are loud," James strolls in. "Who's in love?"

I freeze. "Uh...me?"

James smirks. "You? Lemme guess, with Keith?"

"I-how did you know?"

"Well, first of all, I was near Curtis when you guys were asking for Keith. Also, you had a huge crush on him before he dropped out and you skedaddled off into space," James says with a bored expression.

I pout. "Don't let Veronica know. I swear, she's got it out for me. If someone tells her about this conversation I'm going to be teased about it until the day I die. Or she dies. Neither of which will be coming any time soon," I add.

James chuckles and pats my shoulder. "Whatever. I won't tell her. I was gonna come and look at what we have for lunch supplies, but you guys are in here. See ya around," he waves over his shoulder and walks out.

I turn to Hunk, a bit horrified. "He's going to tell Veronica,"

"He just said he wouldn't,"

"Veronica was right outside the door. I saw her. Oh, lordy. I'm not going anywhere near my room tonight, no siree. It's right across from hers,"

Hunk smirks. "Then...with _Keith_?" If a wink could be verbally transmitted, that's what Hunk would have added. I face-palm but nod.

"Not sure how I'm gonna convince him though. Do you think he likes cuddles?" I laugh frantically.

"Lance. Buddy. That guy is _infatuated_ with you. I'm sure he'd cuddle with you if you wanted. However, if you're just using his cuddles to avoid your sister...I think he'll say no," Hunk chuckles and turns to the cookbook.

"Unless...what if I don't tell him?" I mutter.

Hunk turns back toward me. "That's not a good idea. Then he'll find out from someone else and be mad, or sad, or something. Just tell him. Or, face your sister. Either one works,"

I hum thoughtfully, imagining his reaction. He'd probably want me to talk to Veronica, but let me sleep in his bed. I dunno, though. What if Hunk's right? What if I'm just acting like I like Keith? What if he catches on to something I don't even know I'm doing and he gets mad and he cuts me off? And we can't from Voltron and it's _all my fault_?

"-nce. Lance. Lance? Buddy, you good?" Hunk is waving a spatula in front of my face. "You look sort of out of it. Like, halfway between exploding and falling asleep,"

"Where did Keith say he was again?" I ask. It doesn't answer any of his questions, but I want to ask Keith now. Or do I? Maybe I'm just worrying about nothing. Or maybe something. Maybe I should just leave it for Future Lance to deal with, ya know? Yeah, that sounds good.

"Actually, never mind. I'll ask him later. What are you making?" I cut Hunk off before he can even say anything about Keith.

"Uh...French toast? But with cinnamon sugar in the egg. I've never tried it before, but it sounds cool," he responds, albeit a little confused.

"Cool, cool. Is French toast even French? Like, what about French fries?" I'm desperately trying to change the topic and I'm getting a little bit dry of ideas.

Hunk slaps a nice moistened piece of bread onto a frying pan. "Well, French toast wasn't always called French toast. I dunno what it used to be called, if there was a name for it, but the some of the earliest records of it are from the Roman Empire. In France, they call it _pain perdu_ , which means lost bread. They originally used the recipe to keep stale bread from being thrown away. Pretty cool, huh? But, the French eat it as a dessert, not as a breakfast food," he explains.

I blink. "I was _not_ expecting an answer for that to exist. What about French fires? Do you know about them too?"

Hunk chuckles, placing more bread onto the pan. "I might. Can you go get them for me?"

"Who's 'them?'"

Hunk smiles sheepishly. "Oh, sorry. Thought I clarified it. Just the Paladins and Shiro, if he's available." He turns back to his work, now multitasking and making some sort of topping.

"Sure," I say, hopping off the counter.

I walk through the halls of the Atlas, trying to remember what Veronica had said when she gave us all a tour. _Okay. So, the training deck is over...there. Yeah. Which means the dorms are down there and to the left? And the control room with Shiro is...where? Quiznak, I'm lost._ I stop when I hear voices coming from a room. I follow the sound and find the door to what looks like a bedroom. I cautiously lift a hand and knock. Inside, the voices fall silent, and I hear footsteps coming towards the door. The door opens to reveal a slightly disgruntled Shiro.

"Oh, hey, Lance. Do you need anything?" He asks. He steps to the side slightly and I can see one of Veronica's friends sitting on the bed. I don't remember his name, but he was there to witness my tomato transformation while we asked where Keith was.

"Uh, Hunk wanted to know if you wanted some French toast. He said only the Paladins and you, but I guess your friend could come too. Since he didn't ask for Coran. Oh, and I uh. I may or may not have gotten lost. So that too." I smile nervously.

Shiro chuckles. "Sure, I'll come. _And_ I'll help you find everyone else, since you'll probably need help with that, too,"

"Wha-! I do _not_ need help finding them. I cold to it all myself. I'm Lancey Lance, master of navigation!" I say, straightening up and smiling confidently. Then, I slump. "Actually, no. You're right. We need to find Allura, Pidge, and Keith. Then we can go get breakfast without the rest of the crew." I look at the ground.

Shiro puts a hand on my shoulder. "C'mon. We can find Allura and Pidge first, and you can get Keith yourself."

I blush and open my mouth to say that _No, we can all go._ since I know what he's implying.

"Don't even start," Shiro laugh, "I was there when you asked where Keith was. And I helped him pick out his outfit. _And_ I was the one Keith told about your date, so don't even try and tell me we're all going,"

I smile and look at him. "Huh. Uh...thanks," I say.

Shiro smiles back at me. Then, his eyes light up, like he just remembered something. "Oh! Lance, this is Curtis. Curtis, this is Lance. Should've cleared that up earlier, probably,"

I nod, trying to commit that to memory. _Curtis, Curtis...courteous Curtis with courage and courtesy._ What?

It's how I remember things.

We arrive at a door the looks like it leads to a secret evil lab. Which, remembering what Pidge and Allura went to look at, probably isn't too far off. Upon opening the door, I see lots of scary looking technology and glowing blue-whit lights. In the very corner, the two girls and standing and looking at a computer screen.

I sidle up between them. "Hello ladies~" I say, slinging an arm around their shoulders. Pidge jumps and yelps comically, and Allura looks at me with a unamused expression on her face.

"Hey, guys," Shiro says from next to Curtis, who lifts his hand and waves.

"Hello," Allura says. Pidge walks up behind her.

"Whaddaya want?" she asks.

"Hunk made breakfast for all of us. He sent me to get you guys," I say.

"And I got Shiro, with a bonus courteous. Er...quiznak. _Curtis_ ," I correct myself, slapping myself in the forehead.

The group laughs and we walk out, conversations happening around me. I sort of skip-walk down the hallway, thinking about how _good_ the French toast is gonna taste. I do a couple spins. Of course, I lose my balance and slam my face into a wall.

Laughter erupts from behind me, and I turn around and bow. What a great show.

"We're here," Shiro points to the door next to the wall that I just yote my head into. "Keith should be in there,"

I smile and thank him, turning and going through the sliding doors. Keith is in the middle of the room, stretching. As he shifts from one stretch to another, his shirt rides up his side, exposing his pale side. And I mean Jesus _Christ_ this boy is pale. Has he ever been out in full sunlight? I don't think so.

"Wow, Keith. I think you might _actually_ reflect sunlight," I say, amused.

Just like Pidge, Keith jumps when he hears my voice. "Oh, Lance. Hey. For your information, I spent years in space without having the need to go out in the sun. We can't all turn into a beautiful shade of brown whenever we so much as think about the sun," he says with an annoyed smile.

I shrug. "What can I say? I'm naturally beautiful," I say, fluttering my eyelashes. Keith rolls his eyes and stands up, walking over to me.

"Did you come here for a reason?" He asks, putting a hand on his hip and shifting his wieght to the one leg.

"Is seeing you not enough?" I ask, increasing the fluttering of my lashes and feigning innocence.

"No."

I drop the cutesy act. "Hunk wanted to know if you wanted French toast. He told me to get all the Paladins but we got a 'buy one get one free' deal with Shiro and have Curtis with us, too," I say, mimicking his tone.

Keith smiles and tilts his head. "Well okay, then. Lead the way,"

I stop him from going out the door, earning an odd look from the mullet-haired boy. "Kissie?"

Keith chokes on the laughter he tries to keep down. He kisses the corner of my lips, taking me by the fingers and pulling me along with him out the door. The group is waiting and talking to one another.

"How was your date?" Allura asks. She was dealing with official, universe saving stuff last night so she didn't get a rundown. Same with Pidge and Curtis.

Keith shakes his head so his hair floofs and bounces around. "That'r for us to know, and you guys to wonder about,"

I smile. "What he said!" I say. Pidge raises her eyebrows and I drag Keith down the hallway to the kitchen. Pidge barrels after us and the older, responsible, people just laugh and walk slower behind us.

Keith and I burst into the kitchen, faces red with laughter, hand intertwined. Hunk looks up from where he was dolloping whipped cream onto the French toast. He sprinkles some cinnamon sugar on top and smiles at us.

Pidge shoves through us, smiling. "You guys are tall. It's no fair, I have _stubs_ ,"

I shrug. "Shouldn't have had so much coffee, then, huh?"

Pidge shakes her head. "Even running on .2 hours of sleep and eighty cups of coffee, I got higher marks than you at the Garrison. So, I guess I just have room for my smarts,"

"Uh, guys," Hunk interrupts our little argument. "I accidentally made an extra serving. Anyone want two?"

"Actually, Hunk, we brought Curtis! He was with Shiro when I found them, so I invited him. He can eat the extra!"

Hunk smiles gratefully and hands plates to everyone. He sits with Pidge and Allura and they talk about nerdy tech stuff. Shiro and Curtis are in the only two chairs in the kitchen, hidden from view. Keith is squished next to me on the counter, practically sitting in my lap to avoid touching the stove.

"You know, it's now hot," I say. Keith looks at me with a confused expression. "The burner. Hunk used to one on the other side," Keith looks at the stove, and scoots closer to me. I lift my plate so he doesn't knock it out of my hands.

"Yeah, but I'm not going to sit on the stove. That's _gross_ ," he says, wrinkling his nose and squinting. I feel my stomach flutter. This boy makes me _weak_ when he's adorable like this.

I take a little dab of whipped cream and put it on the tip of his nose, smiling when he goes cross-eyed trying to see what I'd done. I kiss it off, blushing when I realize what I just did.

"Sorry," I giggle softly. "You just looked so adorable,"

Keith elbows me and goes back to eating his food, looking up at me every few seconds. "Why aren't you eating?"

I blush and reach my arm around his waist, hugging him from behind. "Well, I have to reach my food," I explain, nodding towards the French toast in my hand. He mouths a silent _oh_ and ducks under my arm so I don't have to hug him while I eat. Or to make sure I don't get any food in his mullet. I don't know.

"You got tall," I blurt. Keith looks confused, but fond.

"I spent two years on a space whale with Krolia. You guys just decided not to count them. So yeah, I'm tall," he replies.

I squint. "Shrink."

"What?"

"I want you to shrink. You're too tall now. Go back to little baby Keith,"

Keith shakes his head. "No can do,"

I pout and lean forward, pressing my lips to his cheek. "No kisses until you shrink,"

Keith smirks and pulls me closer. "Actually..." He leans forward, closing his eyes. I do the same. We get closer...closer...

"Get a room!"

Pidge interrupts our moment, causing Keith to jump back a little bit and drop his plate onto the counter. Miraculously, it lands food-up and he can still eat. I stick my tongue out and Pidge, but I don't go back in for a kiss. Mostly because every single person in the room is staring at the two of us. Hunk looks mildly amused, as does Allura. Pidge looks like she's trying not to exaggeratedly fake vomit onto the ground. Shiro is muffling his laughter by putting a whole piece of toast in his mouth, almost choking to death in the process. Curtis is smiling and laughing slightly.

Keith starts laughing too. "No!" he laughs, pressing a peck to my lips. Pidge turns and sticks out her tongue.

"Blehghghghhghghghfghgh"

Keith and I are clutching our stomachs, wheezing.

For our first day marching toward death, it seems pretty good.

This.

Is.

So.

Late.

I had really bad writers block and I wasn't sure if I wanted to have a kiss in it or if I wanted to skip this episode and got to the third one and blah blah blah.

Anyway, here ya go. Comment your thoughts. Byeeeeeeeeeeeee


End file.
